Tenth of December

George Saunders’s collection  Tenth of December illuminates human experience and explores figures lost in a labyrinth of troubling preoccupations.

A family member recollects a backyard pole dressed for all occasions; Jeff faces horrifying ultimatums and the prospect of Darkenfloxx™ in some unusual drug trials; and Al Roosten hides his own internal monologue behind a winning smile that he hopes will make him popular.

With dark visions of the future riffing against ghosts of the past and the ever-settling present, this collection sings with charm and intensity.